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Re: Who is the best basketball coach of all time?

Geno Auriemma. Yes I know I'm biased. But we all are, and this is just based on personal experience from watching coaches. (I still think I'm right though. :P ) But his accomplishments add up. 7 National Championships (4 undefeated seasons), 13 final fours, over 800 wins and has won 86% of his games. He also has the longest consecutive win streak, longest consecutive home win streak, and third longest consecutive win streak in college basketball. When he was hired at Uconn, the team had only previously had one winning season. Now, not only is Uconn expected to win a national championship every year, they're expected to go undefeated.

There are obviously a lot of great ones that I never got to see. But Geno's teams essentially taught me basketball. I don't think I've ever seen a basketball team run offense as well as his best teams. He understands Xs and Os as well as the psychological aspects of coaching as well as anyone, and his accomplishments certainly add up.

Re: Who is the best basketball coach of all time?

Re: Who is the best basketball coach of all time?

I don't think you can say who is the very best at anything. However, if forced to rank the coaches, John Wooden is the top for me. Second place wouldn't even be close.

He won 10 national championships, and 80% of his games. Rupp and Coach K have each won 4 titles. Knight and Calhoun have won 3. Wooden also had 4 undefeated seasons. Geno Auriemma also had 4 undefeated seasons, with no other NCAA basketball coach having more than one. There were several years where the backup squad for UCLA would have been the second best team in the country.

Beyond that, Wooden was a great man. He was an excellent teacher on and off the basketball court.

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Re: Who is the best basketball coach of all time?

Actually to be honest with you I don't know how you judge who is the best coach as I don't think you can compare college coach's vs. NBA coach's. Different game, different rules & frankly different personalities.

College coach's get to recruit the players they want on the team and have absolute say over who is there. In the NBA the coach has to coach who the G.M. gives him and unless he has earned the right to, he usually has no say in who is there. There are far fewer games in college so coach's don't have to worry as much about wear and tear on players and have more time to prepare for upcoming games. In fact I don't really even know why anyone would want to coach in the NBA other than they enjoy the competition and the usually larger pay check.

Also what makes great coach? I love Larry Brown to death for what he did here as well but honestly the guy runs his coarse in about 3 years so can you honestly say that this is good coaching? I don't think so in the longterm. He was a hell of a teacher though.

But coaching is a combination of X's & O's, player management, game management, adjustments, player relationships and several other things. Very few master two of these things let alone all of them.

Basketball isn't played with computers, spreadsheets, and simulations. ChicagoJ 4/21/13

Re: Who is the best basketball coach of all time?

I think it would've been interesting or would still be if Coach K ever took a job in the NBA. I'm assuming it would have to end up being like a Pete Carroll situation for him to leave Duke, as he already passed on coaching the Lakers (I think it was when Kobe and Shaq broke up and they had to hire Rudy T) with a huge contract.

NBA wise, I'd have to pick Phil Jackson; he lets his great players do what they need to win, and players are what's needed to win.

"It's just unfortunate that we've been penalized so much this year and nothing has happened to the Pistons, the Palace or the city of Detroit," he said. "It's almost like it's always our fault. The league knows it. They should be ashamed of themselves to let the security be as lax as it is around here."

Re: Who is the best basketball coach of all time?

As I am gonna go ahead and say the resident John wooden expert, the reason knight didn't like him had nothing to do with the hillarious excuse you came up with there...Wooden was from Indiana (coached at Indiana state in fact) and many Alumni tried to compare Knight to Wooden, would get annoying after a while.

John Wooden was the greatest college BB coach of all time. Not to mention he was an All American BB player at Purdue.

As the IU fans use to say when talking about Knight vs Keady, look at the Championship banners hanging in the fieldhouse. That says what needs to be said about JOHN WOODEN.

No 2 coaches demeanor were more opposite than Wooden and Knight. Wooden was soft spoken and respectful while Knight was just Bob Knight... I'm being polite.

I always felt Knight was one of the best 6'5" and under recruiters while not so much with big men. Dean Smith was a great big man recruiter.

Re: Who is the best basketball coach of all time?

John Wooden was the greatest college BB coach of all time. Not to mention he was an All American BB player at Purdue.

As the IU fans use to say when talking about Knight vs Keady, look at the Championship banners hanging in the fieldhouse. That says what needs to be said about JOHN WOODEN.

No 2 coaches demeanor were more opposite than Wooden and Knight. Wooden was soft spoken and respectful while Knight was just Bob Knight... I'm being polite.

I always felt Knight was one of the best 6'5" and under recruiters while not so much with big men. Dean Smith was a great big man recruiter.

I consider Wooden like I think about baseball players on steroids getting in the Hall of Fame. There is no place for cheaters on this list. Wooden's teams were bought and paid for. Bobby Knight ran what may have been the cleanest program in NCAA history......

Re: Who is the best basketball coach of all time?

I don't like him or Duke, but Coach K gets my vote. The consistency of that program is astounding. And like someone previously mentioned, he took a team full of giant egos and parlayed that into 2 gold medals. And if you break it down and compare him to Bob Knight, Coach K trumps him everywhere. 4 national titles to 3, 11 Final Fours to 5, 12 conference championships to 11, and he surpassed him in wins recently. No question, Coach K.

I do like the shout out to Bob Hurley that was mentioned earlier, too.

Re: Who is the best basketball coach of all time?

Also what makes great coach? I love Larry Brown to death for what he did here as well but honestly the guy runs his coarse in about 3 years so can you honestly say that this is good coaching? I don't think so in the longterm. He was a hell of a teacher though.

And in the pro game he seemed to develop a tendency to avoid playing younger players. In his Charlotte days he didn't want to play Augustin (who at the time was not the same DJ we see now, different situation), and he probably stunted the growth of Henderson as well. And then he basically got so fed up coaching that he wanted to leave. He lasted 2.5 years, which more or less (like you noted), seems to be par for the course.

Re: Who is the best basketball coach of all time?

I've never considered Larry Brown's transient stays as anything detrimental to his ability to coach. It may make him a bad employee, but it has nothing to do with his ability to coach. And you mention the college and pro game being different, yet here is a guy who has won at both levels, something nobody else has ever done. And perhaps I am biased b/c I am a teacher of sorts, a trainer on how to use software, but ultimately isn't that what being a coach is all about?

“Seventy percent of me talking on the court is personally for me to get me
motivated and going. Thirty percent is to see if I can get into the opponent’s head.”Reggie Miller

Re: Who is the best basketball coach of all time?

Phil Jackson - This is not a test of who is a class act. He has 11 championships in an era of free agency. Players swear by him and want to play for him. He knows how to stoke egos of "me first" multi-millionaires. Now if I wanted my kid to learn the fundamentals of basketball - I would hire Bob Knight and Larry Brown, but this thread is about who is the best basketball coach of all time.

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Re: Who is the best basketball coach of all time?

Class and ability to coach have nothing to do with each other. If you want to evaluate Coach K as a person vs. Bob Knight, that would be one thing, but coaching is another. At one time he had won more college games than anybody else, so you can bet there are many people other than Hoosiers who would rank him in the top spot. For the record, I would give Coach K the nod over Knight b/c he has won one more championship and he will certainly get the college victories in his lifetime.

Of course had Ted Valentine not robbed us in '92, Knight would have 4 and Coach K. 3, not that I'm bitter about that game or anything...

“Seventy percent of me talking on the court is personally for me to get me
motivated and going. Thirty percent is to see if I can get into the opponent’s head.”Reggie Miller

Re: Who is the best basketball coach of all time?

I've never considered Larry Brown's transient stays as anything detrimental to his ability to coach. It may make him a bad employee, but it has nothing to do with his ability to coach. And you mention the college and pro game being different, yet here is a guy who has won at both levels, something nobody else has ever done. And perhaps I am biased b/c I am a teacher of sorts, a trainer on how to use software, but ultimately isn't that what being a coach is all about?

Unfortunately, Brown got caught up in the UCLA scandal that went back to the Wooden years and they were penalized during his tenure. However, it was common knowledge at the time and he took the job under those conditiions. This disqualifies him from the discussion in my opinion.